Kiss bassist Gene Simmons has started an unwise war of words with the shadowy anti-copyright group believed to be behind a recent spate of DDoS attacks on industry organisations.

During the high-profile attacks a fortnight ago, Simmons’ personal website and that of a record company he runs were successfully targeted by the so-called Anonymous anti-copyright group associated with the 4Chan message board.

The group picked on a variety of industry targets, but Simmons recent comments on piracy probably made him a target too good to ignore.

"Make sure your brand is protected. Make sure there are no incursions. Be litigious. Sue everybody. Take their homes, their cars. Don’t let anybody cross that line,” Simmons was reported to have told an audience at MIPCOM 2010.

Now Simmons has responded to the attacks with threats on his website in true 'Nothin' to lose' style.

“Some of you may have heard a few popcorn farts re: our sites being threatened by hackers. Our legal team and the FBI have been on the case and we have found a few, shall we say ‘adventurous’ young people, who feel they are above the law. And, as stated in my MIPCOM speech, we will sue their pants off,” Simmonds writes.

“First, they will be punished. Second, they might find their little butts in jail, right next to someone who’s been there for years and is looking for a new girlfriend. We will soon be printing their names and pictures. We will find you. You cannot hide. Stay tuned.”

The comments appear to have been noted by the DDoS group which promptly launched another intermittently successful attack on his website in recent days.

It seems unlikely that either side will back down. Simmons will continue to express his robust views and Anonymous will continue attacking his personal website. Both will gain coverage for their opposing views from the attention.

Simmons is now almost as famous for his hardline views on a range of issues as he once was for wearing huge amounts of makeup. It looks as if, in Internet terms at least, he might finally have met his match.